Drop foot is characterized by insufficient control of the muscles that hold the foot and ankle in position for normal walking. The toes cannot be held up because of the loss of muscular control. The foot may turn under while walking so that the victim walks on the side of their foot. It may also be turned inward or outward so that while walking, the toe drags and further twists the foot and make walking very difficult, and could result in serious injury to the victim. These symptoms are typical of a person that has suffered a stroke.
Drop foot suffers would benefit greatly by having a device that would help hold the foot in a normal position while undergoing therapy to begin the process of walking again. If the foot can be held in a normal position, and has flexibility to allow the foot to move properly, the control of the muscles can be regained, and can be strengthened in the therapeutic process. Repeated normal movement is very important to a stroke victim's recovery and use of the foot.
My review of patents reveled there have been numerous attempts in make a device that would support the foot when a victim loses muscular control of the foot and ankle. I have chosen three (3) such patents that very use some of the same ideas utilized in our patent.
The first is Thompson's U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,423; the very nature of the length of the description illustrates the complication that is associated with the invention. While it does use elastic material to raise the toe of the shoe, it is limited in the flex that can be provided. It also involves permanent installation of several items, directly to the shoe. The elastic straps are attached to the shoe at a point that would require a stronger elastic band than would be required if the attachment point was closer to the toe of the shoe. It would have very little effect on preventing the foot from turning onto a side of the foot that is almost always present with stroke victims.
The second is Shield's U.S. Pat. No. 6,926,687: Shield uses straps to make to lift mechanism work. It would not provide any means to help with the turning under of the foot of a stroke victim. Also the steel shanks that insert into the heel area of the shoe, could be uncomfortable.
The third is Trieloff's Patent Application #2002/0129821 A1; Trieloff uses some of the same basic applications methods that we have used in our invention. However, Trieloff's device is very limited in use and application. The portion that fits onto the foot would limit what could be done to lift the foot. It certainly would be difficult to wear Trieloff's device with a shoe. It would not provide any means of rotating the foot to prevent a stroke patient from walking on the side of their foot.